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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 6, 2017 5:58:09 GMT
Saw this at the first preview performance last Friday evening.
Sweet Bird of Youth written by Tennessee Williams in 1959 tells the story of Chance Wayne - a gigolo and faded movie star Alexandra Del Lago whom he hopes will get him into the movies. The setting is St Cloud on the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950's.
Despite a large ( underused) cast of 23 this is basically a two hander between Marcia Gay Harden and Brian J Smith as Alexandra and Chance respectively and the play stands or falls with these two performances. I did not see Kim Cattrall recently at the Old Vic but did see Lauren Bacall back in the day so Marcia Gay Harden had a tough act to follow for me, but she acquitted herself well. Less successful I thought was Brian J Smith (whom I recently saw in The Glass Menagerie) - I did not feel he was sexy or attractive enough to be convincing as the gigolo who turned women's heads.
The stage of the main house at Chichester is as problematic as ever. Huge areas of the thrust stage at the front left empty not to obscure the side seats and the most of the action played at the back of the stage. This loses intimacy when most of the scenes are two handed. I felt the play would have been served better in the Minerva Theatre. I did not like the design. The stage dominated by a suspended cloud from the ceiling (the play is set on St Cloud - subtle) but it looked more like an upturned meringue! Especially incongruous as most of the action takes place indoors. Trucks and lifts bring furniture on but it looked so sparse on the stage and the action seemed very anchored on the Chichester stage and I felt no sense of being in the deep south - all hot and sweaty!
The evening was long - and at times felt it. The play not finishing until 10.20 after a 7.30pm start - although the interval was more 30 minutes than 20. So the running time may shorten slightly. The theatre only around 65% full I would say. So after 40 Year On - which was disappointing, we have another rather below par production. 3 stars for me.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 6, 2017 7:13:11 GMT
Reading your review reminds me just how much I despise this theatre
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 6, 2017 8:48:55 GMT
Yes, the main house is a very difficult space, I have never liked it. With the thrust stage, inevitably you get backs of heads and blocking issues wherever you are sat. No-one gets a good seat!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2017 9:01:29 GMT
I don't mind it too much; I always get a cheap seat at the side, near the front, so I usually have fairly low expectations. It does feel peculiarly wide, flat, and open though, I'd hate to sit near the back. I know it's not comparatively huge as theatres go, but it does feel like it's not made the best use of the space.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 6, 2017 10:06:00 GMT
I know multiple size dimensions exist between this and the Olivier. what I never thought would happen is it makes me appreciate the Olivier, which I'm sure was never the intention
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2017 10:42:49 GMT
It's CFT
What were you expecting
Its the very definition of mediocrity
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Post by frosty on Jun 6, 2017 11:07:34 GMT
I saw this last night and agree with Wickedgrin's comments - it was OK, but it did not move me. Brian J Smith seemed to be playing it a bit too camp to be the brooding gigolo he was supposed to be. This would have worked much better in the smaller Minerva (and there were huge swathes of empty seats last night). It's a shame they didn't swap the spaces with the excellent Caroline, or Change which seemed too big for the small Minerva stage. However, I did spot Kevin from Eggheads sat a couple of rows behind us, so I did have to try not to get too giggly and starstruck!
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 6, 2017 11:27:50 GMT
I noticed the actors all had radio mics.
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Post by alicechallice on Jun 6, 2017 12:25:07 GMT
I noticed the actors all had radio mics. As do an awful lot of actors in plays now. In the Olivier, Lyttleton & even in WAOVW at the Harold Pinter |
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Post by alicechallice on Jun 6, 2017 12:27:24 GMT
It's CFT What were you expecting Its the very definition of mediocrity Are you sure the definition of mediocrity isn't "whatever the last thing Parsley said to get some attention was"? |
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Post by showgirl on Jun 6, 2017 13:01:38 GMT
I'm another person who only books the cheap side seats and I like this theatre (anything's better than a proscenium arch to me, as an audience member, whatever the issues for the performers); I do however sometimes wonder what the view is like from the better seats, so some day I must arrive early enough to check.
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Post by phantom1986 on Jun 6, 2017 14:01:03 GMT
Have to agree with what has been said on here already. The leads have zero chemistry and any sexual tension is lost in the huge CFT. The two leads are fine but most of the other acting is subpar. Especially when compared to the incredible ensemble Kent directed in the Chekhov Trilogy. It's an iffy play anyway, but this isn't a patch on the Kim Cattrall Old Vic production a few years ago. A very slow disappointing evening. I would skip it.
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Post by mallardo on Jun 6, 2017 14:56:32 GMT
It was always going to be hard to match the Kim Cattrall/Seth Numrich combination at the Old Vic. Numrich was about as close to a young Paul Newman as it's possible to be.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2017 9:13:19 GMT
Just been sent an email saying to call the box office for a free upgrade. I did and I got one! My £15 tickets have been magicked into £30 ones!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2017 9:26:44 GMT
Just looked and they have appear to have taken the circle offsale for the performance I'm going to (and where the majority of seats were unsold yesterday when I had a look). Not sure if they have closed it or just taken it off whilst offering the upgrades. Not going until next thursday
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 7, 2017 10:42:18 GMT
I can't remember a time when they have ever closed off the circle at Chichester. This play must be selling especially badly.
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Post by showgirl on Jun 7, 2017 11:08:44 GMT
Just been sent an email saying to call the box office for a free upgrade. I did and I got one! My £15 tickets have been magicked into £30 ones! Wow, I have never known this happen at CFT or indeed anywhere else - not in advance, anyway, and rarely on the day. Enjoy, Mrs L! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2017 14:44:23 GMT
I know we make this comment every time, but it bears repeating on this occasion.
If you value a smoothly running performance with perfect chemistry between the performers, is it really wise to attend a first preview?
Isn't that a bit like going outside at first light in midsummer and then telling everyone how cold it is today?
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 7, 2017 16:17:25 GMT
My comments from the first preview (clearly stated) were mainly about the staging. I don't see the set changing much from preview to opening night - unless they take the merengue looking cloud down of course! We can live in hope.......
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Post by emsworthian on Jun 10, 2017 20:08:08 GMT
After all the flak this production received on this board, I'm almost ashamed to say that I enjoyed it. I haven't seen this performed before so I haven't got a yardstick by which to judge it but walking away from the theatre I heard nothing but praise for the leads from audience members.
I sat in a £15 seat (no upgrade offered) but I was quite happy with the view. I do agree about the cloud. If I hadn't heard it described as a cloud on this board, when I walked into the theatre and saw the set, I would probably have thought that it was supposed to represent rumpled bed sheets. It was distracting.
The theatre was about 65 per cent full and there were people in the circle. Regarding the query from wickedgrin if the circle has been closed off before, I think it was for the morning performances of "Platanov" when they staged three Chekhov plays in a day.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 11, 2017 1:43:04 GMT
3 star reviews from The Stage and The Telegraph.
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Post by jameslazarus on Jun 11, 2017 17:15:51 GMT
I thought the play was insufferably dull. I went with my wife and 2 friends and half an hour in, the three of them were asleep and I was fighting hard to stay awake. It never got much better - second half marginally more interesting but overall a poor play executed in an ordinary manner and with a strong sense of 'who cares' to the end.
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Post by bramble on Jun 16, 2017 7:58:31 GMT
A really stylish production Excellently acted. A rare treat
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 8:03:52 GMT
Caught this last night. Circle closed and they have put these strips of material separating the circle and stalls, looked quite classy and felt way more intimate. Otherwise about 90% full going down to about 83% after the interval. We managed to upgrade our upgrade in the interval too
Odd play but that ain't a bad thing. Would love to see a GREAT production of this, shame this wasn't it. Acting went from pretty good to not great (the son being the low point for me). It will be a production il only remember when I get to see a fantastic version, and I'm sure there IS a fantastic production to be found in this piece.
I'm in my late mid thirties and me and my bud were the youngest there by a good 30 yrs.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 12:28:46 GMT
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